Safety belt for motor vehicles

ABSTRACT

A passive safety belt for a motor vehicle including a hip belt anchored at both ends thereof to a vehicle floor, and a telescopic tube means operatively connected to the hip belt for displacing the hip belt between an occupant restraining position and an occupant releasing position.

This is a division, of application Ser. No. 685,954, filed May 13, 1976,which, in turn is a division of Ser. No. 550,098, filed Feb. 14, 1975,now U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,701 which, in turn, is a division of Ser. No.316,953, filed Dec. 20, 1972 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,212.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a safety belt for motor vehicles with a hip beltanchored at both ends.

For the operation of motor vehicles it is advisable to arrange so-calledpassive safety systems which can become operative without specialhandling, that is, without being started by the car passenger. Amongsuch known passive safety systems are, for example, air bags which areautomatically inflated in a major deceleration of the vehicle. It hasalso been suggested to use passive safety belts which are so designedthat one or several belts are suspended or hung on a car door and wheremechanical means are provided by which the safety belts are so pulled tothe front that a passenger can take his seat behind them. When the dooris closed, the belt is then returned into its operating position so thatthe passenger is protected. Such known designs have variousdisadvantages, however. Thus there is a risk in various designs that thedoor cannot be opened easily from the inside after an accident when abelt is jammed. Besides, it is not possible to leave the car through theother door in the known designs. This is a particular disadvantage,since it is frequently necessary, not to get out of the car on the roadside, which the driver must do, however, if his belt is connectedmechanically to the door on the road side. Another disadvantage isgenerally that the known designs cannot be used for the rear seats of acar, where the passengers should likewise be protected by a passivesystem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide an arrangement where at leastone hip belt is applied automatically when the car is started, so thatit is not necessary to handle a special lock and where the abovementioned disadvantages are eliminated. Accordingly to the invention,the hip belt is provided with at least one belt roller as well as atleast one pressure or traction means which pulls the belt out of thebelt roller when the car door is opened and releases the belt to berolled up by the belt roller, after lifting the loop of the belt. Insuch an arrangement the belt need not be connected directly with thedoor over mechanical intermediate members. This applies at any rate torigid mechanical means. Instead, rope can be provided which operates thepressure- or traction means when the car door is opened. On the otherhand, it is possible to start the pressure or traction means forexample, by a motor or electromotor, by simply putting the key of a doorinto its lock or turning it, if necessary, or by opening the door. Inall these cases the arrangement can be such that the pressure ortraction means keeps the loop of hip belt lifted so long until thepassenger has taken his seat, and the door is closed again, after whichthis belt loop is released again by the pressure or traction means sothat the belt is rolled up again by the belt roller and liesprotectively on the abdomen of the passenger. Beyond that, thisarrangement has the advantage that the belt is properly wound when notin use, so that loose belt loops do not lie around the interior of thecar on or next to seats which are not used by passengers.

As a traction means can be used according to one embodiment of theinvention an arm which can be turned up and in the longitudinaldirection of the car and which is connected to the belt. Such an arm ispreferably rotatably mounted on the seat itself, its connection with thebelt can be designed in the form of a pass-through fitting. To this endthe swivel arm can be provided at its outer rotating end with an openingthrough which the belt is put. In such an arrangement, the belt can bepulled out of the roller when the arm is turned up and be carried along.But the arrangement can also be such that the belt is more or lessrigidly connected to the swivel arm so that, after the arms are turnedup, they are pulled down again by the belt roller.

It is in general of advantage to provide, instead of one arm, a swivelarm on each side of a passenger seat which is rotatably mounted on thesides of the seat, because this prevents the belt loop from hanging downobliquely in its lifted state, thus hindering the passenger from gettinginto the car.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a rope or two ropescan be provided as a traction means, which are mounted in the roof ofthe car and which are connected at one end with the hip belt. Such ropescan be mounted in the roof of the car for adjustment in the longitudinaldirection of the car in such a way that they keep the access to the seatfree when the car is started or that they release the hip belt when thecar is closed to be rolled up again or to be pulled additionally to therear in such a way that they provide additional protection for the upperpart of the body. In the latter case the ropes are peferably designed asbelts. In a variant, telescopic tubes can be provided as a tractionmeans whose extensible end is connected with the hip belt.

If we have spoken above of belts, this is to be understood in the widestsense. The belt does not have necessarily to consist of a woven textilefabric. According to an advantageous further development of theinvention it is possible to make the hip belt tubular and to connect itto a gas cartridge to be inflated, the gas cartridge and the gas beingunderstood in the sense of the above described traction means, becauseit is possible in this design to open the gas cartridge by opening thedoor, so that the hip belt is inflated and rises extending substantiallyin U-form around the back of the passenger seat so that the passengercan take his seat unhindered. When the door is then closed, a valve canbe opened so that the pressure in the tubular belt is eliminated and thelatter is rolled up by a belt roller. The pressure in the tube, whicheffects the raising and the pulling out from the belt roller, has to begreat enough to overcome the pulling force of the belt roller, and thebelt is pulled up. Naturally the hip belt can be connected additionallyto one or more shoulder straps without influencing the action and themanner of operation of the above described arrangements.

Various embodiments of the invention will be described below withreference to the drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows a hip belt with swivel arms before use.

FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of FIG. 1 in a side elevation after use.

FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of FIG. 1 in use.

FIG. 4 shows the arrangement of a safety belt in a side elevation withthe belt roller secured on the passenger seat.

FIG. 5 shows an arrangement according to FIG. 1, but with a single beltroller.

FIG. 6 shows a belt with two belt rollers and a telescopic rod as apressure or traction means.

FIG. 7 shows a safety belt with belt roller and a rope as a tractionmeans.

FIG. 8 shows the embodiment according to FIG. 7 after use.

FIG. 9 shows a safety belt with a rope as a traction means which ismounted in the upper part of the passenger seat.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment similar to FIG. 1 with a three-point safetybelt.

FIG. 11 shows an inflatable safety belt with two belt rollers.

In the arrangement according to FIGS. 1-3, a belt roller 2 and 2' resp.is arranged at both sides of a passenger seat 1 on the bottom of thecar. To these two belt rollers 2 and 2' are connected the two ends of ahip belt 3.

At the two sides of the back 4 of the seat 1 is pivotally mounted aswivel arm 5, 5'. Both arms 5 and 5' are provided at their bottom endwith an opening 6 through which the hip belt is passed. Normally the twoarms 5, 5' hang down in the position according to FIG. 1. But by amechanical, electrical or electromechanical connection with the car dooror the lock of the car door it is possible to turn the two arms 5 and 5'upward according to FIG. 2 clockwise when the door is opened. The hipbelt 3 is pulled out of the two belt rollers 2 and 2' so that the hipbelt 3 extends in U-form over the back 4 of the seat 1, as shown in FIG.3 in a front view. In this position the passenger can take his place.When the car door is then closed again, the two arms 5 and 5' move downfrom their position shown in FIG. 2 in broken lines, so that the hipbelt bears tightly on the abdomen of the passenger under the action ofthe two belt rollers 2 and 2'.

Similar is the action in an arrangement according to FIG. 4. In contrastto the embodiment described there, two belt rollers 5 are provided whichare secured directly on the passenger seat. This has the advantage thatthe mechanism works in the same manner, independent of the position ofthe seat, that is, even after the seat 1 has been moved forward orbackward.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment similar to the one described above, but whereonly belt roller 5 is provided with which both ends of the hip belt arerolled up uniformly and simultaneously.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 6, a telescopic rod 7 is arranged atboth sides of the seat 1 as a pressure or traction means, of which onlyone is shown for simplicity's sake. These telescopic rods 7 are actuatedsimilar to the swivel arms 5 when the door is opened, so that a stirrup8, secured at their upper end, is extended through which passes the beltloop 3. In this arrangement too, the belt loop is pulled upward out ofthe two belt rollers 2 and 2', so that the passenger can take his seatunhindered. When the car door is then closed, the individual rods of thetelescopic tube 7 are retracted, and the tight bearing of the belt onthe hips of the passenger is ensured.

FIGS. 7 and 8 shown an embodiment where two ropes 9, arranged side byside, serve as traction means for the hip belt 3. These ropes 9 areguided over rollers in a rail 10 on the roof of the car. By a mechanicalconnection with the door of the car or by an electromotor which isstarted when the door is opened, the belt 3 can be pulled out here toofrom the two belt rollers 2 and 2' when the door is opened so that thepassenger can take his seat. Then the belt can be rolled up again. Inaddition, the arrangement can be such that, when the door is closed, theropes 9 are pulled to the rear corresponding to the arrow 1, so that, ifthere is only one rope provided, it extends over the left or rightshoulder, and with two ropes one extends over the left shoulder and theother over the right shoulder of the passenger, these ropes acting thenas additional shoulder straps, provided that belts are provided asropes.

Similar to the above described embodiment is that according to FIG. 9,where instead of a rail on the roof for a rope 9, a guide 12 is providedwhich is rigidly connected with the back 4 of the passenger seat.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the invention which provides again thearrangement of swivel arms 5 at both sides of the passenger 1 forpulling out the hip belt 3 from its belt roller 2. Beyond that ashoulder strap 13 is provided in this embodiment which is rigidlyconnected with the hip belt 3 or which can be likewise rolled up withthe hip belt 3 by the belt roller 2.

FIG. 11 shows in a front view an arrangement where the hip belt 3 hasthe form of a tube. Both ends of this tubular hip belt 3 are providedwith a belt roller 2 and 2' resp., which is anchored on the bottom ofthe car. Furthermore a compressed air or gas bottle 14 is provided witha valve 15. If the car door (not shown) is opened from the outside, thevalve 15 is opened too, so that compressed air or a gas flows into thetubular hip belt 3 and raises the latter so that it extends around theback 4 of the passenger seat 1 and the passenger can take his seatunhindered. When the door is then closed again, the valve 15 closesautomatically or the pressure in the tubular belt 3 is eliminated orreduced in any other way so that the belt 3 is rolled up by the beltrollers 2, 2' and provides sufficient protection. Naturally anadditional shoulder strap can be provided in this arrangement too, whichis moved automatically into its operating position when the hip belt isused.

The arrangement can be made even simpler than represented in FIG. 11, ifa single belt roller 2 is provided on one side of the passenger seat 1and a gas cartridge on the other side of the seat, which cartridge has aconnection to the tubular cartridge 3, because in this arrangement sucha connection does not hinder the development of the belt by the beltroller.

I claim:
 1. A safety belt apparatus for a motor vehicle comprising: ahip belt adapted to be fastened across the hips of an occupantpositioned on a seat in the vehicle, said hip belt having two ends, saidhip belt secured at the two ends to a fixed part of the vehicle adjacentsaid seat, at least one belt roller attached to an end of said hip belt,and at least one traction means which unrolls the hip belt from the beltroller when the car door is opened and releases the belt so that it canbe rolled up by the belt roller to bear tightly on the body of theoccupant when he is seated in a seat of the vehicle; and wherein saidtraction means is a telescopic tube mounted on the fixed part of thevehicle and having an extensible end slidably connected to said hipbelt.